


The Apartment Disaster

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27276985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: When Alex's plans with his apartment are ruined, Jack helps him through it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Apartment Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on what is going on in my personal life.

“I’m coming, just one second!” Alex yelled when he heard the doorbell to his apartment ring.   
He set down the box he’d been packing up, then made his way to the front door. When he opened it, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw Jack, happy to not be alone anymore.  
“Hey Alex, what’s up, man?” Jack asked, walking into Alex’s apartment, and taking a seat on the futon in the living room.  
“Not much, really. I only got here about half an hour ago, so I haven’t really gotten much done so far. Thank you so much for coming all the way here to help me pack, I really appreciate it,”  
“No problem, man. I kind of wanted to come home this weekend, so I’m glad that this gave me a reason to. I’m sorry you and your roommate living here together fell through,”  
“Well, it certainly wouldn’t have if everything were up to me,” Alex mumbled, sounding frustrated.   
“I know, you definitely got screwed, I-“  
“I hate to be an ass and cut you off, man, but could we maybe not talk about that right now? Between you, my girlfriend, my other friends, and my parents, I’ve talked about this shit a lot now, and I don’t really want to again for now, if that’s okay,” Alex explained, showing how drained he felt.  
“Oh, sure, no problem. Hey, we should probably get started with packing up your stuff. I’m glad I drove myself over here, because you’ll be able to get twice the amount of stuff over to your parents’ house today! Have you taken many things over so far?”  
“Not too much, especially since I kind of just figured out that this was happening. For today, I want to get all of my stuff out of the kitchen, and most of the non-furniture items out of my bedroom. I think we should start with the kitchen, since there’s significantly less stuff there, and it won’t take very long. I already put some bags in there that we can put my dished and non-refrigerated food into,” Alex explained, leading Jack into the kitchen.  
“That all sounds good to me. Damn, are all of those dishes stacked up in the sink your roommate’s?” Jack asked, grabbing one of the bags off of the floor.   
“Yeah, I already washed my dirty dishes and packed them up. My roommate usually works night shift, so since we’ve been living here, I usually do the dishes for both of us, but now that all of this has happened, I’m not doing that shit anymore,”  
“Yeah, fuck that. Which cabinets have your stuff in them?”  
“All of the ones by the fridge, on the top and bottom. They’re all pretty much as full as they can be,”  
“Cool. Hey, I think I can manage to get everything in here packed up. If you want to go start working on your room, I can take care of this, then come in there when I’m done to help you,” Jack suggested, already pulling Alex’s dishes out of the cabinets.  
“That’s a good idea. If you have any questions about anything, you know where to find me,”   
Alex walked out of the kitchen, leaving Jack to continue what he started. He could tell that Alex wasn’t as happy as he normally was, and that hurt him to see.   
Alex had been so excited to move in with his college roommate when his roommate had suggested it, and Jack was happy for Alex. He would be able to have his own place that was really his since he’d decided to stay in their hometown for college. Jack figured that this would allow Alex to have the independence he’d been wanting, so he felt awful that these plans fell through for his friend.   
For the first fifteen minutes, Jack heard Alex shuffling around in his room as he worked, but eventually the noise completely stopped. Not thinking much of it, Jack continued to pack up Alex’s dishes, but after a few more minutes of still not hearing anything, Jack started to feel a bit concerned. While there was a very good chance that Alex was just quietly sorting through something, Jack could tell how upset Alex was about this situation, which caused his concern.   
Coincidently, Jack had run out of room in the last bag he had, which meant that he had to go to Alex’s room to get another one, so he set down the bag he’d just packed, and made his way over to Alex’s room. The door was open, and Alex was sitting on his bed, staring at the ground with his head in his hands. Jack felt his heart drop some, he hated to see his best friend so upset over a situation he had absolutely no control over.   
“Hey, Alex, I ran out of bags,” Jack finally said, getting Alex’s attention.   
Alex looked up with a slightly disoriented look on his face, but quickly tried to pull himself together.   
“Oh, um, there’s more on the right side of my closet floor,” Alex replied, still not standing up.   
Jack went over to the closet and grabbed the first bag he saw, then went over to Alex’s bed, and took a seat next to his friend.  
“Jack, you don’t have to-“  
“I know I don’t have to do anything, but I want to. You’re my friend and I care about you. I know all of this is really shitty and unfair for you, and I can see that you’re struggling to deal with it. It’s okay to not be okay about this, but please talk to me about it, man. I want to help you deal with it, if I can, because I hate seeing you so upset,”  
“Shit, I really thought I was doing a good job of hiding how I feel about this,”  
“Well, it’s a good thing that you don’t want to become an actor. Anyway, what about all of this is upsetting you so much?”   
Alex took a deep breath; this was going to be the first time he really opened up to someone about this that wasn’t his parents.  
“Well, everything about it pisses me off, to be honest. I think the main reason, is because all of it was preventable,” Alex started.  
“What do you mean?”  
“So, my roommate’s, well, ex-roommate’s, girlfriend was supposed to go to a college about two hours away from here, while my roommate and I went where we go. His girlfriend ended up deciding to go to the same college in the city that my girlfriend goes to, so while she was finding a place of her own here, she temporarily lived with us, and she didn’t even pay rent, just part of the Wi-Fi and electricity bills. Anyway, she eventually found a place with her sister, and literally the same day that they signed their lease, I got a text from my roommate saying that the rent would be super cheap if he went to live with them, since it would be split three ways, which lead to him wanting to break our lease. Also, he doesn’t want to not live with his girlfriend, so that’s how I got fucked,” Alex explained, sounding angrier as he went on.  
“Shit, that’s awful. So, your roommate really thought that all of this would be just fine with you?”  
“Well, that’s where shit starts to get a bit weird. When my roommate first mentioned this, he said that he knew it would be fucked up of him to go through with this, but I guess he didn’t really give a shit, since he decided to do it and everything,”  
“It certainly seems like it. What did your parents say about all of this?”  
“Oh, they think it’s really shitty of him, too. They’re the co-sign on our lease here, and they’ve been paying my half of everything since I don’t have a job right now. The only reason they were so okay with me getting a place when I could’ve just stayed at home, is because it would help out my roommate. His childhood room was taken over by his parents when he moved on campus our freshman year, so he didn’t really have a place to live during breaks, so us getting this place together gave him that. I think I honestly feel worse for my parents in this than I do for myself, because they lost money for a stupid reason. This has definitely fucked me up a bit, but I can’t help but feel terrible about that,”  
“That’s understandable, but how do you feel about everything on your end? Like, how has this affected you personally?”  
The two of them looked at each other, and Jack saw a pained look in Alex’s eyes right after he’d asked his question.  
“Pretty shitty, to be honest. You know about all of the shitty friends I’ve had in the past who have just so effortlessly ditched me. It hurt a lot then, and this just feels like the most recent version of that. I really didn’t want to take this so personally, but it’s hard not to. I get that this is partly because of how cheap the rent will be for him now, but who does this to a friend they really care about? I know that this is just me overthinking, but this makes me think that I’m a bad friend, and that I don’t matter. This is so hard for me to talk about because I feel like I just sound stupid and pathetic, but how am I not going to feel like this after everything I’ve dealt with in the past?” Alex’s voice cracked at the end, and Jack watched Alex quickly regain his composure.   
“Well, that-“  
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I think that the worst part is that I still want to be friends with him, kind of. He’s been my closest friend here since we were freshmen, and while I have a few more casual friends, he was kind of it. All of my really close friends are out of state, like you, and part of me doesn’t want to give up the friendship, because I don’t want to go through my last year and a half of college feeling alone. He seems to think everything is fine and that we’re still friends, and I wish I could feel that way, too, but I just can’t. I want it to work out, but I can’t look past something this awful,”  
“Well, I think that most people would probably feel the way that you do in this situation, especially if they dealt with what you did in past friendships. I want you to know that this reflects your roommate, not you. What he did fucked you over, but this isn’t your fault. As far as being his friend goes, maybe you guys can be casual friends at events, but not close anymore. I know that’s hard to think about, but I think not being super close with him anymore is best, because he sounds toxic. Also, if you just act like everything is fine and normal, this will make him think he can do things like this again. I understand why you’re hurting over all of this, but none of this is your fault, and time will make things better,” Jack sincerely stated, making a small smile appear on Alex’s face.  
“Thanks, Jack, I really needed that. I know that time will help, but it really does hurt a lot right now,”  
“That’s totally okay that it does, all that matters is that you take care of yourself so you can heal from this. Fuck your roommate, everything is going to be okay, I promise,”  
“Thanks, that all really helped me, man. Hey, I guess we should get back to work, there’s a lot of stuff to pack up,” Alex eventually said, after taking a deep breath.  
“Sounds good to me. I’ll finish up the kitchen, then we can both work in here, and maybe listen to some good music while we do, to make this more fun,” Jack suggested.  
“I’d really like that,” Alex replied, as they both smiled.   
Jack grabbed the bag he’d come in the room for, then went back out to the kitchen to finish what he’d started. Alex still felt down about what had happened, but he knew that time would help him heal, and so would having the support of his best friend in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this fic is about what I've been dealing with lately, and why I haven't posted very much this month. Everything I had Alex say actually happened, and none of it is exaggerated or anything. I've been moving back home mid semester, but I'm finally almost finished with it, so I should be able to write and post more often now! Please send in requests if you have them, and thank you for reading. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
